'Senator-Elect' Franken Ignores Coleman Appeal

Funny man Al Franken considers the outcome of his opponent’s appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court such a foregone conclusion that he’s begun to refer to himself as “senator-elect” – and has begun hiring staff for his Senate office.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports Democrat Franken plans to hire party activist Alana Peterson to serve as his state director. Adding insult to injury for the campaign of former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman: the news release announcing the appointment refers to Franken as “senator-elect.”

“Sen.-elect Al Franken today announced that Alana Peterson has agreed to serve as his Minnesota State Director,” the Monday news release began.

The release goes on to add that Peterson will help Franken’s constituents obtain needed services from the federal government.

The news of Franken’s latest effort to portray himself as the de facto winner of the hard-fought campaign comes as Coleman’s legal team prepares to file their appeal to the election contest that ruled Franken won the election by 312 votes.

Sources tell Newsmax that Coleman will file a notice of his intent to appeal in the next 24 hours. The notice will be filed with the Minnesota Supreme Court.

“What we file today or tomorrow is a notice of appeal with the court -- a one-page document saying we are appealing,” a source inside the campaign says.

The deadline for the actual appeal to be filed is set by the Court, sources say. The notice of intent to appeal could be filed as early as Monday afternoon, they add.